Copyright 2003 Jerusalem Post
October 22
HEADLINE: Keren Tannenbaum: Releasing details endangers my father's life
BYLINE: JPOST.COM STAFF
Hours after the Supreme Court rejected the Tannenbaum family appeal and lifted gag order on the circumstances surrounding Tannenbaum's abduction by Hizbullah, the family said in a press conference that publishing reports regarding their father may endanger him and subject him to further torture and interrogation.
"One thing is perfectly clear today: We had nothing to hide from the Israeli public," Tannenbaum's daughter, keren, said. "All the reports published today were no where near as bad as the vicious rumors we've had to deal with these past few weeks.
Keren repeated the family's claim that its appeal to sustain the gag order on events leading to Tannenbaum's abduction was motivated by fear of Hizbullah.
"Anything published may endanger my father's life, may bring him back into the interrogation rooms and torture chambers."
Keren refuted the various accounts of her fathers kidnapping (see related story), blaming media sources for basing their reports "on speculation and bits of information.
"What we do know is that, as opposed to the vicious innuendoes, he didn't arrive in Lebanon of his own free will, but was brought there by force."
She voiced the concern that the reports may thwart the impending prisoner exchange deal, in which Tannenbaum is slated to be released. In light of the rumored accounts of the kidnapping, several individuals and organizations, including the media, the family of missing navigator Lt.-Col. Ron Arad and ministers, have spoke out against the high price the release of "a reckless individual" would entail.
"The questioned today is not whether to release my father, but whether to abandon him to his fate and let him die," which is what will happen to him if he remains in captive, said Keren, noting reports of his deteriorating health.
Speaking about Ron Arad, she said her family understands the Arad family's pain. "Who better than us knows their anguish? The government should do everything possible to bring back Ron Arad or get some information about him. But what we do know today is that there is a chance of getting my father back," Keren added.
Pas Moser, lawyer for Haaretz and Channel 10, said that if Tannenbaum's life is endangered, it is not related to the release of circumstances of his kidnapping.
Moser has argued that much of the information leading to Tannenbaum's abduction has already been published in other countries. He said reports the Israeli media have already prepared, could quell rumors circulating around the affair.